The Legend of Cynder: Reign of Darkness
by Dreamnorn
Summary: DISCONTINUED. Cynder's point of view during A New Beginning. It's not easy being a minion of Malefor, and Cynder realizes this on her quest to free him. The soldiers themselves show her what impact he has had. Meanwhile, a new purple dragon is becoming a threat...
1. Prologue: The Birth of Darkness

**Hello, people of Earth and beyond! This is a story I might do in my spare time or when my Truth or Dare has hit a pause (which it has). For those of you who are reading this that are familiar with my T&D, I've hit a little Writer's Block which is just small enough to slow down my progress and just large enough to be a real annoyance.**

**I'm not sure if this idea is entirely original, but here's MY version of the Legend of Cynder!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters in this story except for two apes which I have given real names and personalities to.**

--

The Birth of Darkness

_In the Year of the Dragon, in a world beyond the realms, I, like all the others, awaited the birth of the dragon of whom the prophecies foretold._

_But the Dark Master heard the prophecies as well. I should have hidden the eggs long before._

_But I... I thought we were ready. I thought they were safe._

_Oh, how I was wrong…_

Walls cracked and eggs tumbled in the tremors from the temple roof. Ignitus, who was completely engrossed in guarding the clutch, was taken by surprise and nearly lost his footing. The stones crumbled to the floor as he wobblingly stared at the collapsing ceiling.

"Save them!" came a shout. Ignitus quickly turned to see Volteer run through the door that led from the room with the Pool of Visions The electric dragon was out of breath, but his eyes were ruthlessly determined. "The dark armies have come!"

As falling rubble hurtled to the cobblestone floor, Ignitus panicked, knowing all too well that he wouldn't be able to save every young life that was awaiting birth in this nursery. The Fire Guardian quickly snatched the purple dragon egg and ran out through the back door and out into the starless night.

Volteer didn't have long to catch his breath. The moment Ignitus fled from the hatchery, half a dozen muscular ape warriors broke in through the temple doors and began grabbing eggs, smashing them against the ground. In a burst of energy, the ever-dutiful Volteer stood up tall and managed to incinerate one of the smaller beasts.

But without the breath for him to use his magic, Volteer felt virtually powerless. The largest ape, taking advantage of the Thunder Guardian's weakened state, brandished his club high in the air. "This one's for you, mother!" he cried as he slammed it hard against Volteer's neck.

The Thunder Guardian was knocked out, but still alive. The massive primate knew how important his life would be in the plan to release the Dark Master from his prison. Knowing that time was quickly fleeing, the ape boomed, "Will one of you numbskulls grab the black egg already and go?!"

"I got the egg!" At that, a medium-sized ape picked up a black egg which had rolled to the floor in the trembling quakes that were shaking the whole temple to its very foundations.

When the smaller cohorts knew that their task was complete, and that they had destroyed every egg they could find, they figured that it wouldn't be wise to stay much longer.

Ignitus came back just in time to see the last ape trip over a lamp and set some of the moss on fire. The Fire Guardian was speechless. All around him, he could see eggs that were either smashed by the infernal apes or crushed in the falling debris from the roof. As he blew away the fire in one mighty beat of his wings, he saw the battered body of Volteer lying motionless on the temple floor.

"Great," Ignitus muttered. "Now I need to shingle the darn roof all over again! Where's my insurance policy?!"

But he had much more to worry about than temple maintenance. In his mourning over the roof, he hadn't noticed that the black egg was not there, crushed or not. This was going to be one fatal oversight that would haunt him until the end of his days.

--

A night of no stars and a new moon is black, but not the same shade of darkness of the egg the ape leader held. He stared into it, marveling at its mystery. He could almost feel his soul spiraling into its ebony depths as if it were a dark crystal draining his life energy away.

"Careful with that egg, Fabius (Fay-bee-us)," growled the commander. On his dreadwing, Fabius's leader looked strong and menacing. "If _that_ one gets smashed, we'll be Malefor's next meal."

"Gee, Faust (Fowst)," Fabius smiled, looking at the egg. "Do you think it will be a baby boy or girl?"

"What difference does it make?!" Faust spat. "The creature inside will be nothing but a pawn on the chessboard of this budding war. Boy or girl alike, this dragon will free our master and give us a crucial advantage in our conquest for world domination."

Fabius drooped his ears and pouted. "I was just wondering what we would name it…"

"_Name?_" snarled Faust. "Idiot! It doesn't NEED a name."

_Don't call the egg an 'it', _Fabius argued to a tiny imaginary Faust. _'It' will be a he or a she._

Behind the ape leader's back, several of the soldiers snickered. The dreadwings continued to ride farther into the skies, but Fabius hardly noticed the time pass. All the while he was staring at the egg, thinking of names for the dragon-to-be.

After a long, silent flight, the small escort of apes arrived at the floating island in Convexity. Since the apes were of evil alignment, they could go in and out of the portal as they pleased. The four soldiers lined up in double file, standing tall as Commander Faust got off his mount and marched to the front of the lines. "Come, Fabius."

The ape looked to the ground. Even though his dreadwing was no longer in flight, it was still awfully high off the ground at about the height of an adolescent dragon. Fabius looked down dizzily and stumbled over the wing membrane, making his mount shriek indignantly.

His head foggy, the ape could hear amused chortles from his comrades as Fabius tripped over a knobby bone…

And sent the egg flying in the air.

"GET IT! GET THE EGG!" Faust shouted the moment it was airborne. Fabius, suddenly noticing that the unborn chick was in danger, leapt into the air and grabbed the egg just before it hit the ground.

Faust walked towards him, seething with hatred. "Give me that!" he growled as he yanked the egg from Fabius's hands. "Your clumsy fingers will destroy this creature _long_ before we present it to our master at this rate!"

Sheepishly, Fabius stuttered, "Well, you see, I have this awful fear of heights, and—."

"Shut up!" roared Faust as he put the egg in his pouch. "I have no desire to hear about your completely ridiculous acrophobic condition. All I want is to give the egg to the Dark Master before it hatches on its own."

When one of the soldiers burst out in a fit of laughter, Faust gave him a furious slap in the face. "Back in line, all of you!"

Each of the apes got back in line, a taken aback by Faust's physical outburst. Fabius cowered next to his superior as Faust led the group into the portal of Convexity.

The Convexity portal led to different places depending on your alignment. To the good, it led to a dark, sickening realm which contained a fog that weakens you until you lose consciousness and die; a terrible fate, which many unfortunate heroes have suffered. To the neutral it was a transporter: a way into any place in the world they desired.

But to villains, it led directly to the Dark Master's prison.

Fabius's feet tingled as he stepped through the portal alongside Faust. He stepped in on the other side, met by a blast of warm air. The room he stood in was an enclosed chamber floating in the void of space. The windows were closed, and the place felt warmed by an unseen source. Fabius felt the portal behind him sending fiery lights into the large area.

Then, slinking towards him ominously, was a massive dragon with violet scales. His head had enormous, spiky horns sticking out like thorns. His claws were stained an unclean yellow, much like his eyes, but his teeth were whiter than a frosty blizzard. At the end of his tail was a perfectly curved spade.

"Malefor," breathed Faust. The whole patrol bowed before the massive figure.

"So… you have the egg?" Malefor's voice boomed from his mouth like tumbling rocks.

Faust took the ebony elliptical egg from his pouch and kneeled, holding it out in front of him. Fabius only watched as the Dark Master carefully picked it up and placed it on a small bedding of weeds.

Malefor waved his hands over the egg and chanted, almost rhythmically:

"_Ancient creature of the night,_

"_Born from darkness, afraid of light,_

"_Free this egg from tying girth,_

"_Give this shadow creature birth!"_

Upon that, the egg was showered with purple sparks which glowed magically over the egg. Immediately, the egg began to quiver and shake violently, illuminating with a crackling lavender light. With a momentous crunch, the egg burst into several shards which rained on the soldiers and spread across the room.

Fabius covered his eyes, hoping that the shards would hit Faust instead of him. The sounds of magic died down around him, and a gentle giggle sounded not too far in front of him. The ape opened one of his eyes and gasped.

There, sitting on small remains of shell, was a little black dragon with silver markings. Its underbelly was a dark shade of magenta, and it had small, bumpy horns on its head. The tip of its tail looked like a slice of cold steel, gleaming in the unnatural light from the portal.

A wicked grin spread on Malefor's face. "A new era has been born to us this very day."

Faust gasped, "A new reign of darkness will fall across the land!"

Fabius smiled and babbled, "Why, it's a girl!"

Everyone turned to give Fabius a good old-fashioned 'what the—?!' expression. Fabius ignored them and walked over to where the little dragoness now lay, rolling in childlike glee in her former constraints. "Hi, there," Fabius breathed as he looked at the newborn.

The dragoness blinked her forest green eyes at him. With a big, toothless smile, she burbled, "Dada!"

Fabius smiled sweetly at her. "Aw, lookit her! Isn't she _adorable!_"

Malefor rolled his eyes. "Fabius!" he roared, "The newest member of team evil will not now nor never be referred to as 'adorable'. I will raise her to be a killer and a weapon."

Fabius nodded eagerly, "Yes, master! But may I make a suggestion?"

Everyone groaned. Faust looked as if he were just about ready to strangle Fabius. "_YES… Fabius?_" the Dark Master snarled.

"Uhm… I was thinking, well, maybe, we can name the dragon Cinders of Fallen Heroes. Huh? How does that sound?"

Malefor sighed with annoyance. "Very well. Cinder, for short."

"No, no!" Fabius argued, "How about we spell 'Cinder' with a 'y' instead?"

"Now why would he do that?!" Faust raged.

"It sounds cooler!"

All of the soldiers looked ready to throw a fit of laughter. Faust put his hand to his face, feeling acutely embarrassed by how the situation was working out so far. Malefor glanced ponderously out his window and murmured, "Cynder… I like that."

The Dark Master wheeled around and turned to stare right into young Cynder's face. Her big green eyes widened with fear when she first looked at him. "Hello, young Cynder. Are you going to help me escape from the confines of this blasted prison so I can dominate the Dragon Realms? Hmm?"

"Dada?" Cynder babbled. She put a small paw on Malefor's muzzle. For a moment, Fabius thought his master would destroy her from the sudden and unwanted contact, but he instead tolerated it.

"Please call me Uncle," Malefor boomed.

Cynder tumbled to her front and spread her tiny wings. "Uncoo…" she cooed, rolling the new word on her tongue and smiling playfully.

Malefor grinned nefariously. "Faust! Fabius! Feed the girl while I make preparations for her training."

"Training?" Fabius panicked. "At this age?"

"You have nothing to fear, Fabius," Malefor growled. "She will grow up _much_ faster than you think."

Malefor handed Faust the newborn and stalked to the other side of the cavern. Faust, looking a little uncomfortable with carrying the baby, quickly shoved Cynder into Fabius's hands. "Give the thing some food, you lackey!"

Fabius shot Faust a nasty look, but all his negative feelings washed away when he felt a small, stubby dragon nose poking into his chest. He turned down to see Cynder close her eyes and snuggle up to him with a contented sigh.

"Aw…" Fabius chuckled. "You _are _cute, no matter what they say. Come, now, my little Cynder; I shall get you some breakfast."

--

**EDIT: Good grief! This was swarming with errors. I edited it to make it flow better.**

**EDIT2: All right… my writing tutor came over and helped me find a couple egregious errors which I missed the first few times. It should be okay now.**

**I shall give pea-and-cream-cheese yogurt to those who can tell me where I got the names 'Faust' and 'Fabius' from. ;)**

**This went along well very nicely. I might consider continuing this when I hit a choked spot in my T&D. I WILL have humor in this one, only it will be much more subtle. Oh, and I can't write poems for beans (if you've read my Truth or Dare, you would know that). Please review!**


	2. A Chat with Uncle

**The story continues! This chapter takes place at about the same time as when Spyro starts playing tag with Sparx in the swamp, so it's several years after the prologue. In 'dragon years', I'm guessing that Spryo would be somewhere around nine to twelve years old. Does anyone know for sure?**

**Response to Reviewers:**

_searing light dragon – Thanks very much! I do __**hope**__ that it will be good…_

_lorephunk – Thanks again. :) I try to make all my OCs as believable as possible (except in Truth or Dare where I try to make them all ridiculous in some way or another)._

_Spyro-Fanatic: Wow… thank you! That's the first time anyone has ever said that about my stories!_

_........... (anonymous): No, Faust and Fabius's names do not come from OOTS, but that's a good guess._

_Pleneko: Cynder's title is "Queen of the Conquerors?" I'll need to find some way to use that in future chapters; it sounds really cool. xD I know that everyone was supposed to die if they tried to enter the prison, but I liked the idea of personal contact with Malefor. As a final note, you are quite right about Faust's name… it's also a little character clue, no? (hands you cream-cheese-and-pea yogurt)_

_ChristianDragon: Thanks! (hug)_

**And now Fabius returns in his cute apelike glory! :D**

**--**

A Chat with Uncle

Cynder quietly paced through the tall chambers of her castle. Several years had passed since she was hatched in the dark rooms of Malefor's lair, but she was already in her adult form. Lean and dangerous with her glinting horns, massive wings, and whip-like tail with a curved scythe, she certainly looked the part.

The dragoness, who was now enormous, slithered up the steps which headed to her chambers. A pair of conduits guarding her room immediately stepped away when they saw Cynder approaching. The black dragon stood on her hind legs and pushed the door open. Without a word she stalked into her room and slammed the door shut with her tail.

Cynder's room was rather plain. A large black bed with red blankets and pillows was in a far corner. A small stand with a mirror was littered with some of Cynder's excess accessories which she liked to wear depending on her mood. A clear door was opposite her bed, leading to a balcony where she could view all of the Concurrent Skies when she wanted.

Cynder turned her dark green eyes to find a medium-sized ape making her bed for her. "Hello, Father!" Cynder greeted.

Fabius turned around and smiled when he saw Cynder. "Hey, Cynder! How are things going?"

"Well," Cynder began as she curled up on the floor. "Gaul granted me more of his men to position in the Munitions Forge, which is a good thing because some of his soldiers think pushing each other into lava is some sort of sport."

At that, Fabius laughed. "Ahh, those were the days!" he exclaimed. "Do continue, Cynder."

"Uncle Malefor was very impressed with me when I caught the Earth Guardian the other day; he was called Rockwhatsit, or something."

"Terrador."

"Yes, that's it!" Cynder shouted triumphantly. "Terrador, right. I managed to squeeze a complement out of Malefor when he saw Terrador in the draining sphere." The dragoness nudged her father in for a hug.

"Did you, now?" Fabius chuckled as he embraced Cynder back. "I'm so proud of you, my daughter."

For a moment they cuddled. Cynder eventually let go of the ape and asked, "Father, how well do you think I'm doing? Will Uncle really someday be the ruler of the whole world?"

Fabius smiled sweetly and replied, "I'm sure that if you help him, he will be very proud. I know _I_ am."

"Part of me feels a little strange doing Uncle's bidding…" Cynder whispered.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Cynder," Fabius replied, placing a hairy hand on Cynder's shoulder. "The Dar—erm, I mean your uncle's going to be really grateful if you help him through this. If you free him from his prison, I'm sure that you will get your just reward."

Cynder looked to the distance, her green eyes lost somewhere out the window and into the Concurrent Skies. "But Dad, I still don't feel quite right when I'm put to these tasks."

Fabius shushed her and grunted soothingly, "It's all right. This is only for the best."

The black dragoness, looking a little insecure, sat down again and gave Fabius a long hug, nearly cradling him in her arms. The ape, a little surprised at the contact, suddenly began to chuckle.

"What?" Cynder grinned.

"Oh, I just remembered a time when I was the one to hold you in my arms, not the other way around!" He laughed, his eyes flooding with memories. Fabius hugged Cynder back, breathing slowly next to her warm underbelly. Since the day he had taken her in, she had grown from a little bigger than his head to three times his size. To Fabius, it felt like no time had passed at all.

Cynder nudged him gently with her large snout. _"Dad…"_ she purred playfully as Fabius began to scratch her belly reassuringly.

At that rather awkward moment, the door opened and a tall ape with horrible scars entered the room. Cynder quickly rolled to her feet and sat down, trying her best to look commanding. Fabius, who was knocked to the floor with the sudden movement, rolled clumsily on his back.

"Get up, Fabius!" the ape commanded, kicking Cynder's foster father in the rear.

"Hey!" Cynder barked, baring her shimmering white teeth. "That's my dad you just kicked! What is it you want, Faust?"

Faust stood up tall, looking completely unremorseful at Cynder's comment. He reported, "Lord Malefor would like to speak with you. He says to come to his lair immediately."

Cynder's green eyes narrowed. "Does he now? Why?"

"He said it was of high priority, my Queen."

Something about that sentence sent a small chill down Cynder's spine. _What does Uncle want with me? _she pondered. Cynder figured that refusing him wouldn't do any good. Spreading her enormous wings, she commanded, "You two, open the doors!"

Faust and Fabius ran to the glass double-doors and opened them wide. The balcony from Cynder's room was a long one; perfect for leaping off of in flight. Dashing in a running start, the black dragon charged through the opening and flew off the terrace.

"Travel safely!" Fabius called as Cynder soared into the flashing skies. Cynder, a little out of breath from her running, decided not to respond. With an immense beat of her wings, she flew over the gates of her palace into the treacherous thunderstorm which always illuminated the Concurrent Skies.

Cynder swerved past the sparkling blue shards, nearly decapitating a wandering crystal brute with her tail. Soaring faster and faster with every breath she took, Cynder eventually trembled at her speed and was flung in a portal between two sparking crystal which lead into Convexity.

Once she was in the realm, Cynder didn't need to travel far. Letting some loose stones fall into the abyss of Convexity, she landed on the floating rock with the door to Malefor's lair letting out an unearthly light to the surrounding rocks. Taking a deep breath to muffle the shock, Cynder tingled as she stepped into the portal which led to the Dark Master's lair.

The moment the black dragoness entered the room in which Malefor was trapped, the purple dragon growled, "You are late, Cynder."

"Many apologies, master," Cynder replied as she bowed down.

The Dark Master turned around and hissed, "You have done well in capturing the guardians of thunder, ice, and earth. But even in all your success, one crucial link has managed to escape our grasp for far too long…." Malefor growled in anger, and roared, "Ignitus, the Fire Guardian!"

"What do you want me to do, master?" Cynder replied placidly, letting none of her uncertainty escape in her expression.

"I bring news to you from Gaul, who sent one of his patrols to the swamp. Only one of his men made it back alive. The survivor claims that he and his friends were attacked by a large fire dragon. I _know_ that they have stumbled upon Ignitus's hiding place.

"Your job, Cynder, is to go there and see if you can find him yourself. Gaul offers to send extra soldiers there as well, but that is your call."

Cynder nodded, "If you would be so kind as to let Gaul know that some new soldiers stationed in the swamp would be wonderful, I would be very grateful."

"Very well," Malefor rumbled. "Now move along and find Ignitus for me."

"Yes, master." Cynder solemnly replied. For some reason, her stomach was in a knot.

Malefor turned around and stalked to a corner of his chamber. Cynder took that as her cue to leave. With a shake of her tail, she stalked out the door and into the void of Convexity.

Cynder looked quickly at the gateway, flapped her wings, and soared into the realms which lay beyond.

--

**EDIT: Writing tutor helped me find a couple errors. It flows smoother now.**

**I typed this in a little over half an hour.**

**Here's more filler material for my T&D. This one was shorter and probably less amusing (if at all) than the last chapter, but I needed one of these in place for me to make a **_**hopefully**_** humorous chapter next time.**

**Pleneko was quite correct in guessing Faust's name, but can any of you pinpoint where Fabius comes from? And no using Google, because that's cheating. ;D**


	3. Swampy Spot Checks

**Mkay. After a "linking chapter" to get us into the works, I'm writing this one to be subtly humorous.**

_Review Responses:_

_Megatyrant: Thanks!_

_ChristianDragon: I figured that black and red would work really good in Cynder's room because they went with HER color scheme, but now that I think of it yeah: black and red DO look very good together. And yes, Fabius should hopefully sound very familiar._

_Spyro-Fanatic: Lol, I'm glad to hear that it's "believable". xD_

_searing-light-dragon: No need to worry about it. And thanks!_

_Someone I Know From School: This had better not be Brownie talking…_

_Dreamnornfan4eva: Aww. I must say that I'm completely flattered and somewhat baffled by your review. I find it really hard to think of myself as even remotely humorous! I'm working hard on the next chapter (it'll probably be my longest yet), and it should be up when the winds of February begin to blow._

**Just as a little something to mull over while you read this chapter: Fabius's name comes from a person in history. To all of you who have been reading your Social Studies books, maybe you can guess who. ;D**

--

Swampy Spot-Checks

The smell of rotting plant material and dead animals made Cynder gag as she walked through the marsh, her face contorted at the stench.

"Good grief," she muttered, "who would dream of living in a place like _this?_"

Cynder closed her eyes. _Objective. Remember your objective._

The red dragon with claws like brands and wings alight with fire.

But where would she look? Surely no sentient creature would dare live here _willingly?_

Something particularly squishy interrupted Cynder's thoughts. She looked down at her paws, which now had swampy muck oozing through her toes. "Blech!" she roared, lifting her feet and shaking them at the nearby tree trunks. The black dragon shook her head, trying to look dignified as she walked in ankle-deep mud.

Pretending to ignore the slimy feeling of stepping on mushrooms, Cynder carefully avoided splintery logs and sharp rocks as she padded through the forest. Wondering where her minions were camping, Cynder failed to notice that the ground in front of her was becoming liquid.

Cynder, lost in her thoughts, slipped on her right paw and fell face first into the mud.

"BLEH!" she spat, jolted back into reality. The black dragon, whose entire front was now a sickening brown from the mud, shuddered at the feeling of the goo along her spine. Moist soil dripping in acidic spit fell from Cynder's mouth in a slimy, black trail.

A little irritated, Cynder waded through the reeds and grime until she reached a spot where she could walk again. She took two paces forward…

And stepped on something sharp.

"AAAAAARRRRHHHH!!" screamed Cynder as she hopped on three paws, trying to shake off a particularly jagged pebble that was wedged into her pad. Little flying creatures fled into the skies, and small animals that were scampering nearby quickly burrowed underground.

Not too far away, Cynder heard a "Go to your happy place!" and figured that she was nearing the apes' dwelling.

"This is all fine and dandy," Cynder growled, "but will SOMEONE _please_ tell me where the ape's Swamp Settlement is?"

Rustling from the bushes behind her emerged a small patrol of three apes. Cynder, a little unnerved by this place, turned to look at their clothing. Ruddy, torn, and smelling of dirt, the apes were scantily clad in garbs so poor that Cynder wondered if they offered them any protection.

When she glanced at their battle-scarred shoulders and hardened feet, the black dragon felt a pang of pity. Though the apes all looked strong, Cynder could see some of their bones. Swishing their tails on the ground, the small patrol looked like a group of zombies.

_Who deserves to wear such tattered clothing? _Cynder thought as she stared. _And their skinny bodies! They look as if they haven't eaten in weeks._

Upon seeing how worn the apes appeared, Cynder suddenly became conscious of how disgusting SHE looked. Her whole front was caked in mud and her feet had little weeds lodged between her toes. Pretending not to notice, she cleared her throat and rumbled, "Are you of the Swamp Settlement?"

The medium-sized ape, who appeared to be the leader of the party, answered, "Yes, Cynder. The camp is not that far from here."

Cynder nodded and asked, "Would you kindly escort me there? My navigation seems to have failed me."

"Of course, your majesty," the ape nodded, "Come and follow us."

As the apes turned to leave, Cynder suddenly barked, "Can I fly after you instead? This bog is killing my feet."

The patrol only nodded as they leaped out into the trees. With a few beats of her wings, Cynder raced into the air and followed the quickly moving patrol. A large area devoid of trees with a few teepees alerted Cynder that she had finally arrived at the right place.

A massive commander stepped out of the largest tent as Cynder landed. Though he was larger, he didn't look any better than the other apes. He held a large bone club in one hand and sported a robe that appeared to have been worn for eight months straight. The patrol scrambled towards the chief of the Swamp Settlement and bowed as he strode towards Cynder.

"Queen of the Conquerers," the commander breathed, kneeling before her.

Cynder, once again recalling that she looked as if she had taken a bath in swamp water, stated, "If you would be so kind, commander, I would like to have a little privacy in one of your teepees for a moment."

"As you wish."

Cynder lurked into one of the tents. With a heavy sigh, she closed the opening, staring down at her crusted underbelly and disgusting feet. She started to lick her arm, figuring she should make herself look more presentable, and immediately recoiled in disgust. _Yeuch! _She hissed.

After several long strokes of tongue, she was mostly clean. Cynder decided that she wouldn't do her feet with her tongue. There was NO WAY she would be picking little mushrooms out of her teeth!

With a rustle of her wings, Cynder entered back into the clearing. All the soldiers of the swamp were there, where they bowed down before their leader. The same commander from before stepped forth and boomed, "Gaul has notified us of your coming, Cynder. At the moment, we have nothing to report. There has been no sign of the Fire Guardian since the attack on one of our patrols the other day."

"We must find Igotus—."

"Ignitus," the ape commander corrected.

"_Ignitus,_" Cynder hissed, "as soon as possible. He has evaded us for too long. Commander, I order you to—."

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" At that very moment, a small ape leader trampled into the clearing, his tongue lolling out and his arms in the air. His tail covered in burs, the primate ran right into Cynder in his alarm. The dragon only stared as he sprawled out on the ground and squealed at her sight. "They'z back! They'z BACK!"

"What's back?" Cynder growled, her green eyes flashing with curiosity.

Everyone looked expectantly at the leader. His panicking reduced to panting when he realized that Cynder wasn't going to hurt him. "Them dragons is back, that's who," he panted. "One lil' 'un torched most of mah patrol, he done! 'E won't nearly as big as the other 'un, but 'e wuz breathin' all this fire and—!"

"Wait, wait, wait…" snarled Cynder, raising her neck in confusion. "Are you saying that you have found a fire dragon on the loose? How big was he, and was he red?"

"Like I sayz," the ape continued, "'e wuz just a lil' 'un, 'bout the size of them av'rage ape soldiers. But 'e'z really strong, 'e is! 'N he wuzn't red; 'e wuz purpler then the Dark Mast'r!"

Cynder rolled her eyes and growled calmly, "My friend, there can only be one purple dragon existing at a time. I doubt that there is anyone 'purpler' than the Dark Master, and I thought that there were no young dragons born during the last Year of the Dragon."

A couple of the apes in the background shifted uncomfortably at the last part, each of them looking a little nervous. The ape leader that was panicking only moments ago was suddenly very quiet. He burbled, "But what we gonna do 'bout this 'Spyro' guy?"

"I wouldn't make a big fuss about this," Cynder shrugged, "He doesn't sound like too much of a threat. You may try and capture him if you want, but I wouldn't worry too much. If what you say is true, then he could be of use to us, but he won't be much of a danger if we leave him be."

The commander stood up for the first time and offered, "I shall alert all parties in this area to keep an eye out for the dragon, if you wish."

"That would be nice," Cynder bluntly accepted. For a moment she sat, staring into the orangey sky. Then she turned around and purred in a harsh whisper to the commander, "I'll tell Gaul to send you new clothes and more rations soon."

All the apes smiled gratefully. "Thank you very much, your highness."

Cynder laughed, "Please, do just call me Cynder."

"Very well, Cynder." The apes, excited at the prospect of new rations and clothes, hooted with delight as Cynder took off into the air. "Farewell!" called the commander as she flew, waving one last goodbye at the apes of the Swamp Settlement. A heartbeat later the dragoness was soaring towards the sunset, her mind lulling over all the things that had happened that day.

--

**Okay, first off, I AM SO SORRY FOR THE HORRIBLE WAIT! Life's been tough over to ol' Dreamnorn.**

**Secondly, I hope this chapter was funnier than before. Heheh… poor Cynder doesn't know what's coming to her. (DUN DUN DUUUN!)**

**And finally, the next chapter of my truth or dare would—as I have mentioned to Dreamnornfan4ever (and I love that anonymous name, by the way)—be out somewhere around February. Thank you all for being so patient.**


	4. A Storyteller's Work

**Hoo! I'm glad you guys like the story so far. I got all psyched up for the next chapter, so I began to write it. And here it is!**

**(By the way, I'm going to do review responses in the following chapters only for anonymous ones. Signed ones will be replied to via PM.)**

**REVIEW RESPONSE:**

_uplate: Ahh, you flatter an ol' dragon. I'm not THAT inspiring. Out of curiosity, under what name did you post a dare in my T&D?_

_AND CHOMPER ROCKS MY SOCKS! Woohoo!_

**This is, once again, a "linking chapter." Sorry.**

--

A Storyteller's Work

With a loud creak, Cynder opened the front doors of her castle. The smell of scented floor wax greeted her unsuspecting nose like a wave of sleepiness. Her chandelier was dusted, the carpet beaten clean, and the windows were polished. Even her portrait of Fabius feeding a young Cynder biscuits had been put in a new, dark-wooded frame. _I must be seeing things…_ Cynder thought, blinking her sleepy eyes. _My palace is so clean!_

At the top of the curving staircase stood an ominous Faust, his murky brown eyes narrowed seriously. He grunted, "Queen of the Conquerors… I assume your task has been successful?"

"The apes in the swamp are terribly malnourished and their clothes look as if they haven't been clean for decades," Cynder hissed. "Tell Gaul that I demand he send fresh provisions and armor for his soldiers of the swamp."

The ape slowly descended the staircase, his frown unchanging. Faust mumbled impatiently, "Certainly, Cynder. But have you found Ignitus yet?"

"There has been no sign of him since yesterday's attack." For a moment, Cynder wondered if she should mention something about the little purple dragon that one ape was ranting on about. With a mental roll of her eyes, she dismissed the idea. Surely one little dragon couldn't be _that_ dangerous.

"Darn it…" Faust swore. "This has to be the seventh time we've had a lead on his location and failed to track him down. Surely one of Gaul's soldiers should have known where the attack was?"

"Negative."

There was a dark silence. Cynder stared challengingly at Faust, whose expression was unreadable.

Finally, Faust rumbled, "Malefor will not be pleased."

"I'll keep that in mind," Cynder snarled. Faust strode pass Cynder to make his way to Convexity, making the dragoness frown. She didn't like that ape. There was something about him that made Cynder feel uncomfortable. The dragon was unsure if it was his rough, battle-scarred exterior or his expressionless eyes that made her heart tense when she saw him.

As soon as he had left, Cynder closed the front door and marveled at the shininess of all the objects in the front room. Everything from the obsidian vases to the individual diamonds on the chandelier had been polished until a sparkling incandescence glowed within them, even in the dimming sunset light.

"Surprise!" Fabius shouted. With an excited jump, the ape leapt out of his bedroom and to the top of the stairs, running into the dark dragoness. "I cleaned the place up especially for you!"

A happy smile replaced Cynder's ponderous gaze as she exclaimed, "Oh! So _that's_ why everything is so neat and polished!"

Fabius grinned in an apish way and excitedly asked, "Is there anything else you'd like me to do for you?"

Cynder looked down at her feet. With a rush of guilt, she realized that she was walking on her father's cleaned floor with muddy paws. She chuckled bashfully, "Well, a bath would be very nice…."

"Of course, Cynder! It's already warmed up," Fabius chattered, beaming at the thought of catering to his daughter. Still feeling a little guilty, Cynder slowly hovered through the halls as she followed Fabius to a large room with a massive tub of water.

To any small creature, this would have been like a large, steamy Jacuzzi. The candle's lights in the room were low as Cynder slipped into the warm depths like a graceful seal, making a perfect circle as the water diffracted over the sides of the pool. Cynder slowly breathed out, relieved at the soothing feeling of liquid bubbling beneath her toes and water rolling over her wings like wind across a meadow.

The dragoness opened her eyes and slowly looped through the clear waves, moving as fluidly as an eel. She caressed the bubbles as they drifted peacefully to the surface. The muck and grime that had coated Cynder but a little while ago had sunken to the bottom of the warm water like heavy sins weighed upon a mortal's heart.

With a sharp loop, Cynder gained momentum as she suddenly plowed upward, her throat clenched in her neck. _Air, _she choked. _Need air…_

Then… she surfaced.

In a brilliant shower of golden bubbles over the light from the candelabra, Cynder rose like a magnificent serpent from the depths, spreading her wings wide and tilting her legs inward as she coiled towards the tiled floor. Like a cat, she landed perfectly on the ground, her tail gradually curling with her.

"All clean?" Fabius gibbered, his smile wide with pleasure.

Cynder noticed that his eyes were closed. "Don't worry about it," she chuckled. "Time to dry off!" The dragoness took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and blew two long, streams of warm air out of her nostrils. The steam dissipated, and the force of the heat quickly dried Cynder off.

When the steam cleared, she saw Fabius's fur was fluffed out in all directions.

"Dad!" she laughed.

Fabius's eyes grew wide with embarrassment as he shook his fur down in front of Cynder. "Haha… sorry about that," he snickered.

Cynder smiled and stared outside. Time can be hard to tell when the sky is always filled with magical electricity sparking between massive crystals. "How late is it, Father?"

"It's seven-thirty."

Cynder yawned deeply and murmured, "Is it bedtime already?" Her eyelids drooped half-closed as she felt all her senses dull with her realization of the time. "Will you escort me to bed?"

Fabius quietly nodded as he held on to Cynder's flank. The dragoness closed her eyes, breathing deeply as she allowed the ape to guide her up the stairs. His hairy hand on her flank gave Cynder a comforting message.

_You are not alone. I'll always be there._

Her green eyes flashed open when she heard her door creak. She glanced through her room, dimmed by candlelight. The outside world had now grown dark, the rippling lightning of the crystals flashing now and again. With a languid motion, Cynder crawled underneath the magenta blankets and sank her head on the red pillows.

With a long yawn, she squinted her sleepy eyes towards where Fabius had strode next to her, smiling with a fatherly pride at her. With a sleepy sigh, Cynder mumbled, "Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Tell me a story."

Fabius chuckled, blinking his warm brown eyes. "Of course, my little girl. Which story do you want to hear?"

Cynder opened her eyes wider, pondering over it. "Can I hear Uncle's story? It's been years."

At her words, Fabius raised an interested eyebrow. "You haven't heard that one in a long time…"

"Please," Cynder huskily rumbled. "Do tell it to me."

"As you wish…"

--

"_Around the time of the great dragons of old, when they had forged a mighty alliance with the Atlawa and the Manweersmalls, there existed one small dragon whose power was underestimated by all he knew and loved. His parents were both creatures of Earth, which was interesting, since he bore no resemblance to their massive, green bodies. His scales were a dark violet, with yellow horns and spikes; he looked like a dragon from a fairy tale._

"_When his parents were reluctant to allow his training to commence, he insisted that his training begin. They were hesitant not because they didn't know what his element would be—but because they thought that he would make a fool of them for being a purple dragon."_

"But why would they say that if purple dragons are so powerful?" Cynder asked.

"Hush… Just listen…

"_Back in those days, no one knew what a purple dragon was; that explained why his parents bid him only grief instead of love. But when he finally convinced them that he was worthy of training with his friends, he astonished them: rather than producing a powerful Earth Flail or Earth Shot, a blast of explosive fire escaped his lips!_

"_He continued to train his Fire element until he one day woke up and discovered he had learned the Ice ability. Soon after came Wind, Electricity, Shadow, and even some I don't know! The elders encouraged his training, astounded by his abilities…_

"…_But one day they inexplicably banished him. I am uncertain of what had occurred… only the Chronicler knows how he was exiled. Some say that he had used his unimaginable powers to wreak havoc through the Dragon Realm; the story he himself told was that they had grown jealous of his superior talent._

"_In a fit of rage, the dragon pledged that he was going to one day show that he was worth something. Instead of returning and bringing everlasting peace, he assembled an army of apes to harness the power of the gems and to wage war against all of dragon-kind."_

"Cynder," Fabius breathed. "Your uncle needs your help. Until he is in command of the entire realm of the dragon, he will continue to fade into nothing but a fitful spirit, yearning to one day be heard. If you can harness the essence of the four main elements from the guardians, then you may take his place by his side."

"But I don't understand." Cynder turned around to face Fabius. "Why did Uncle choose war? And who is this 'Chronicler' guy?"

"The tale behind the Chronicler is another story entirely," the ape sighed. "He is a legendary dragon who has spent uncountable seasons in a library on an unknown island. As time passes him by, he adds new information to the history of the dragon race to the Books of Time."

Cynder sat up straight. "I want to see him."

Fabius chuckled. "Ah, Cynder! You remind me a lot of myself when I was a little boy. You can't see the Chronicler. Nobody knows where he lives."

"But shouldn't we know the truth? About Uncle?"

An uncomfortable silence lingered between them.

"…Some things are better left untold, Cynder." Fabius gave her a warm hug. "Now go to sleep. You'll be training some more with Uncle tomorrow."

Cynder said nothing. She only watched as her foster father blew out the candle and closed the door. Turning to her side, Cynder sank further beneath the covers, her eyes half-open. _Why is Uncle the way he is?_

The questions that burdened her were lifted from her mind as she sank beneath the covers. Her sleep was heavy and peaceful that night, quietly resisting the restless storm which forever danced in the Concurrent Skies.

--

**I hate, hate, hate, HATE getting stuff in late!**

**Yeah. There will be humor and maybe some mild action in the next chapter.**


	5. Struck by a Cold

**A lot of people are hypothesizing that Fabius is going to die/get lost/be otherwise harmed in this story. I can tell all of you that he won't die in **_**Reign of Darkness**_**. But you are all using your powers of reading to try and guess what will happen! I must say I'm touched. This hasn't happened in any story I have posted! (With the possible exception of **_**The Kin of Bloodstar**_**, my Warriors fanfic, but I'm afraid that didn't catch on.)**

**REVIEW RESPONSE:**

_uplate: Daawh, hee. xD Thanks! And yeah, I couldn't resist making her call Malefor "uncle." I'm afraid that was an artistic impulse of mine._

…**My titles stink. I guess suggestions for title changing are always open. Here you go:**

**--**

Struck by a Cold

"Again."

Cynder took a deep breath and closed her eyes. In her head she pictured fear; a living shadow haunting his owner and sending his ghostly chills down their spine. She envisioned her own fears, haunting her every day.

She could see it…

"Now release it."

In a concentrated burst, Cynder spat a glowing orb, resonating with an eerie red and white light. It swirled around her target like a devilish imp and exploded in his face, showering pure shards of fear all over him. Instead of a typical _bam,_ however, it released a scream of pure horror, like the cry of a mother upon seeing her child lost forever.

Her target shivered, his face contorted with terror. With a loud thud and a brilliant combustion, the dojo dummy turned into nothing but dust.

"Well done." Malefor strode over to Cynder, his disgusting yellow eyes unblinking. With a putrid sigh he rumbled, "You are improving. Fear is a difficult element to master, let alone use. It relies mainly on intense and sudden explosions of fright, screaming the terrors of mortals all the way from the ears to the heart, where it then rattles the target's innards to the core. For one who has only recently gained the ability, you have studied remarkably quickly."

"Thank you, master." Cynder bowed her head. "Fabius told me last night that you had a new mission for me."

"He has spoken correctly," Malefor nodded. "Do you remember Volteer, the Guardian of Thunder? He was captured by you and brought to Dante's Freezer for the draining of his power. I sense the crystal is ready to be taken to the portal. You must retrieve it."

The black dragoness sat up to face him and murmured, "As you command, master." With a swish of her scythe-like tail, Cynder began to slither out of Malefor's room, quietly letting out a sigh of relief.

After stepping through the portal, Cynder took a few deep breaths. She always felt a little queasy when confronting the Dark Master directly. In a similar way to how she had distrusted Faust, the dragon felt as if something about Malefor was vile and deceitful.

Cynder dismissed her doubts. She HAD to trust her master, no matter what. _The least I owe him for teaching me,_ she thought, _is unquestioning loyalty._

With a flap of her powerful magenta wings, the dragon soared through the thin bubble of Convexity's air and broke back into the Dragon Realms.

--

A blast of icy air met Cynder's face as she flew over a slushy sea, the bones in her wings creaking from the cold. Her teeth chattered as she flew over her fort on the rim of the continent, waving her forepaw at the commander there. _I… am… FREEZING…_ she shuddered. _Why is it getting so cold?!_

"Ah…" Cynder's nose tickled. Sensing an approaching sneeze, she quickly took a deep breath and held it.

One of the ape commanders climbed down from the fort and asked, "Cy-y-ynder? I assume your fli-i-i-ight was w-w-well?"

Cynder nodded, feeling her nose itch and wrinkle on the tip of her snout.

"Excellent," the ape grinned. "He is exactly where y-y-you left him. But r-r-r-remember: wintertime in Dante's Freezer is not a laughing m-m-m-matter…"

"AH…" Cynder huffed. Though it sounded to the commander as if she were responding to his warning, she was really trying to restrain the nasal explosion that was threatening to burst forth.

The commander gasped, "CYNDER, LOOK OUT!"

"CHOO!" The black dragon turned her head just in time for a burst of frozen air to paint everything in its path with ice and snow. Blinking her wetted eyes, she absent-mindedly noticed that she had just frozen two trolls which were coming towards her, axes drawn.

"Oo ber zaying?" Cynder asked, rubbing her nose. She could feel some warm snot on her claws and quietly began to lick her fingers.

The ape, trying to not look revolted by the perfectly green snot, cleared his throat and chuckled, "W-w-well, it's best you start for the Ice K-k-k-king's lair."

"Hank oo, cobbander." With a few beats of her wings, Cynder was airborne. Freshly-falling snow quietly glistened on her horns, running down her back like the snot running down her nose. Her toes quaking in the cold, the dragoness could only fly as she was caked in the chilled flakes.

For a long while the dragon flew, her head clouding up along with the sky. Her green eyes drooped when imagining returning home and snuggling up in her nice, soft bed. She imagined her creaky wings curled up beneath her as she sipped some warm tea with Fabius gently patting her on the head and telling her that she could go to sleep.

Cynder didn't have the strength to stifle a yawn escaping her lips. Her eyes drooped even more, her long neck starting to lower with fatigue.

World… growing darker…

"OOMPH!" Cynder's eyes jolted awake, her face twisted in a grimace. Wondering what just happened, she took a quick glance at her surroundings. Rather than flying high above this cold, unforgiving land, she was on a set of six tables, her legs and wings splayed out so much that she completely covered them.

From farther away, a couple of ape soldiers hesitantly approached her. "Are you all right, madam?" One medium-sized ape approached Cynder, quietly examining her wings.

"What happened?"

"Queen of the Conquerors, with all due respect, it is unwise to fly in these skies. Dreadwings have suffered from Sleepy Syndrome by taking wing in these parts. It is not uncommon for them to fall down one of the abysses that dot this landscape… and you know what's at the bottom of those…"

Cynder, still panting from her shock, breathed, "Did I fall asleep?"

"I'm afraid so," the ape sighed. He paced around her, stroking her wings in a doctor-like fasion. "I think it would be wise for you to walk the remainder of the way to the fortress of the Ice King. Once you have Volteer's crystal, you can safely fly upward to break the Dragon Realm's barriers and place it near our master's prison."

"Then I have not a moment to lose," Cynder rumbled, her usual air of confidence restored. She hoisted her head up high and strutted out the door, leaving the ape soldiers to repair the tables she had fallen on.

Once outside the fortress, however, Cynder was once again met by an explosion of snow. Taking deep breaths that released warm air, the dragon trudged onward across the bridge. Her warm breath heated the bridge, melting some of the fallen snow and leaving behind an uneven trail. But Cynder, who was hardly in a position to care, only mumbled to herself.

"This place stinks more than the swamp," she growled. Knowing she was only a few hundred meters from the Ice King's fortress, the dragon quickened her pace. The snow had finally stopped falling, and the sky was shaping to be a hazy mosaic of white, gray, and blue.

"GRRRNGH!" something shouted. Almost automatically, Cynder doubled back in a defensive position, her scythe-tail poised up high in the air. Two massive ogres and several troll warriors were charging right at her, axes glinting with cold iron.

"Oh, for the love of…" Cynder grumbled. With a belch-like burst from her chest, Cynder released several sonic screams onto the trolls. The small, ugly beasts ran away in panic, but the ogres didn't flee. _Oh, crud, they're wraiths,_ Cynder remembered, her own fear boiling up. _Fear doesn't work on the undead…_

She slashed her whip-like tail over one of the ogre's armor, causing one of his boots to fall off. The other ogre swung hard with his axe, barely scraping Cynder's tough hide.

_What did Malefor teach me about ogres again?_ Cynder panicked. _"They can stand physical attacks, but not elemental battering."_

With a deep breath, the dragon took to the air and spun around on her tiptoes. A swirling tornado surrounded her, lifting rocks from the ground that pelted into the ogres. Cynder breathed in and out, letting time slow down around her. The ogres turned into wraiths…

"HI-YAH!" Cynder slammed her paw onto the ogre's heads, causing them to spin around in a bundle of confusion. In a brilliant explosion and a shower of gems, the two undead turned into dust before Cynder's eyes.

_I wonder why vanquished enemies explode like that?_ The dragoness marveled as the gems swirled around her, replenishing her mana and empowering her with the strength to go on. Quietly noting that she should send some ape soldiers to camp out here, Cynder bounded to the front of the Ice King's fort.

With one skillful movement of the claw, the dragon picked the lock of the stronghold. The mighty doors opened up, revealing a rather simple hallway that led into a main room. Cynder locked the door behind her and barred it so no one could follow, then turned and proceeded through the hallway.

The stone walls had ice in every crack, gently dripping its contents to the floor. Unlit torches smelling of wet ash were hanging on the sides of the passageway, defiantly staying put despite the winter's wear on their wood. Grey banners with the insignia of the Troll Realm waved pitifully in the slight draft shifting through the cracking ramparts.

As Cynder entered the main room, with walls of stormy gray and a floor of white and blue ice, she pondered, _You know… for a world of white and grey, this place really is quite beautiful._

Without noticing, Cynder placed one of her padded paws on the frozen ground. Almost immediately, her foot slipped and she landed nose-first on cold, wet, slippery ice.

"Owwoooch…" she grumbled. Struggling to regain her footing, the dragon planted her scythed tail in the ground and forced her forepaws on their pads. As she fought to place her hind paws underneath her, she didn't notice that her tail tip was slowly sliding out…

_SHLANG._ With the sound like steel being sharpened against a rock, Cynder's tail lurched out of the ice and flew over her head. "BWAAAH!" Cynder yelled as she slipped on her front feet and landed painfully on her right wing.

Fortunately, however, Cynder was gently sliding in the direction of the opposite chamber. With a smirk of triumph, the black dragon placed her feet on the snow, where at least she could wade through the snowbound tunnel.

Her hot breath quickly melted and moved most of the snow out of her way. The dragon _carefully_ walked over the slush. The tunnel was illuminated by spirit gems, each of them glowing with their own mystical power. Even though Cynder knew that she could get a lot of power by breaking the crystals, she ignored them. She had enough mana to complete this task, and a trance back at home would replenish any health she would need for tomorrow.

With footsteps silent as shadows, Cynder stalked through the tunnel. A small avalanche of snow rolled out the tunnel and into the misty chasm that surrounded a suspended island of ice. Cynder knew that any sudden movements would wake the Ice King, who was sitting as frozen as a statue on a throne opposite her.

There, by his massive feet, was Volteer, the Guardian of Thunder.

The draining sphere that once held the massive yellow dragon captive had disappeared, leaving him unconscious but alive on the floor. By Volteer's left foot stood a glowing maroon crystal, sparking with little jolts of electric energy.

"Shadowdancing," Cynder whispered. She emptied her mind; _I am nothing. I am nothing but a shadow._ With invisibility on her side, she snaked towards the base of the Ice King's chair. Literally lighter than the air, Cynder danced on the warm currents, knowing that if she stopped moving in such a rhythmic fasion the spell would be broken.

The dragon could feel her mana slowly draining, but still she kept approaching the glowing crystal. It seemed to be swirling with her, following her motions. She brought her hands closer…

_BRRRR-ZAAP!_ Cynder exploded out of her trance when the crystal shocked her hand. With a roar of anguish, the dragon yanked the crystal from its bed in the snow, her green eyes darting alertly. Almost at once, the massive hand of the Ice King trembled on its rest. "HHHHHNNNNHHHH…" she heard it growl.

Cynder panicked, frantically looking for a way out. Her mana was almost completely gone. Without it, she felt frail and powerless. A massive brute like the Ice King could easily best her in a fight if she had no green energy flowing through her veins.

With a rushed burst of energy, Cynder leapt off of the balcony and soared towards one of the walls, only narrowly avoiding a nasty punch to the nose. In a bid for freedom from this horrible place, Cynder closed her eyes and used the last of her mana in a shadowdance…

The Ice King shouted a curse in Trollish when he saw Cynder _phase through the wall._

Cynder, completely drained of magic power, immediately turned tangible the moment she burst from the walls of the mountain. Her wings ached, her toes were cold, and her head was foggy again from flight. Clutching the Electric Crystal in her paws, she soared as fast as she could into the sky and broke out of the Dragon Realm's barriers once again.

--

**I swear I'm going to slam my head in a brick wall if the next chapter I deliver is this late.**

**I apologize if I didn't make Cynder's journey in Dante's Freezer with flawless correspondence to the first **_**Legend of Spyro**_** game. It's been a while since I've played it, and no writer is perfect.**


	6. Exuberant Taunts

**All right, people, before you start reading, I would like you to note that this is only HALF of the chapter I originally planned. The writing has been going slow (it only sped up last Monday) and I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer, so I posted this up.**

REVIEW RESPONSE:

_uplate: Ohmygosh, you're a Warriors fan too? :D Huzzah! All hail Firestar! He and Chomper will rule the world! Viva la Revolution!_

**This chapter may not feel as complete as some of the previous ones.**** That's because it was supposed to be about twice as long before. But, in any case, here is the long-awaited update!**

--

Exuberant Taunts

_Knock, knock, knock!_

Cynder wearily raised her head. She had been in bed for the last two days, feeling absolutely miserable. Her sinuses were clogged, her throat was gritty, and her mind was in a fog. With an agonized groan, she murmured, "Cub ind."

The doors opened wide, sending blinding shafts of light into Cynder's shadowy room. Faust entered the chamber, a flicker of triumph in his normally expressionless eyes. "Cynder," the ape boomed, "I am most pleased to announce that Malefor is impressed with your work. He says that he has a new task for you, in the Tall Plains."

"Fawust," Cynder wheezed, "Ah dond do if oo realized id, bud ah kimd 'uv caught a cold…."

His small smile disappeared and his usual glare replaced it. "I am sorry to hear that, Cynder, but Malefor wishes Fabius to brief you on the new mission and for you to set off for it immediately."

Cynder was just about to respond when Fabius entered the room, wearing a frilly white apron and carrying a bowl of steaming broth. "Hey, Cynder! I got the frogweed noodle soup you—." He stopped, turning his head to face Faust. "Oh, hello, Faust! Nice weather outside, isn't it? Why don't you come downstairs and I make you some tea?"

"No." Faust growled, rolling his eyes. "I just arrived to order you to brief Cynder on her next mission."

Fabius frowned. "But Cynder is sick with a fever. Can't Malefor command an ape squadron to get the Ice Crystal instead?"

"He insists we send Cynder. That's an order."

Cynder snarled and sat up, her polished canines gleaming sharply in the white light. "Faust," she rumbled, barely restraining hacking an acid loogie at him, "I'm tired. I'm _sick._ I wanna go ta sleep. There is no warm soup in the Tall Plains, and no comfertable blangets either. You are goin' ta leeme alone until I've healed and 'ave the en'rgy for sucha task. Gawd it?"

Faust stood there ominously, as silent as a ghost. Fabius was shaking in his apron, not knowing whether to smile or gape at Cynder's backtalk to the ape commander. Static tension crackled between them. In the muted light of her warm room, Faust almost looked like a shadow creature poised to strike.

At last, he grunted, "Fine. You have until tomorrow to rest, but you set out at first light." With a rustle of dusty fabric, the ape strode out of the chamber, his brown cape waving sarcastically behind him.

When the room grew dim once again, Fabius decidedly smiled and brought the tray with the soup over to Cynder's nightstand. He dipped a wooden spoon into the broth and sat down on the bed, turning it towards the dragoness's nose. "Open wide!"

Cynder obliged, letting her foster father pour the warm liquid in her mouth. It tasted wonderfully salty on her tongue and splashed down her throat like waves of magic. She turned a grateful smile to Fabius and mumbled, "Hank oo, Dad."

"That was very bold of you to stand up to Faust like that," Fabius beamed. "One day, when you're ruling by the side of your uncle, you're going to be a wonderful mistress."

Once again, Cynder's weak smile faded into a doubtful sulk. Her thoughts drifted to Malefor, and she pondered (not for the last time) if what they were doing was the right way to go about dominating the Dragon Realms. For some reason, the idea of a hostile takeover continued to make Cynder feel a little prickly inside.

Slurping down the last of her soup, Cynder reclined back under the bed sheets, placing the bowl gently on her nightstand. She blinked her sticky eyes and lolled back under the magenta blankets, allowing her head to sink deeper into the soft depths of her silk pillows. Quietly picking up the tray, Fabius smiled in a fatherly way and lurked out of the room, closing the door and turning off the lights. Cynder could only feel the air grow colder as she fell into a deep and sound slumber on this still and silent night.

--

By the following morning, Cynder's health had improved tremendously. She no longer felt languid and cloudy in the head; the only remnant of the cold she had received from Dante's Freezer was but a mere, congested nose.

Rather than confronting Malefor directly for the briefing of her newest assignment, Fabius was to give her a quick summary of what she was to do, by order of Faust. The dragoness hadn't a clue why Faust commanded Fabius to give her the info, but she didn't care enough to find out.

Cynder slinked into the kitchen, smiling radiantly. Half a dozen staccato flashes of lightning in the always stormy skies announced that it was now six o'clock—and therefore breakfast time. The black dragon sat down at the huge dining table, patiently waiting for her personal chef to arrive with food.

"GAH! Sorry I'm late!" stammered Fabius. Stumbling into the room, the ape bumbled in dizzy circles and unceremoniously dropped a large platter in front of Cynder.

The dragon couldn't help but notice that the ape was covered in flour and sticky dough. "Did the oven explode _again?!_"

"Yes, Cynder," Fabius sighed, staring at his unseemly apron. "I'm never going to get these stains out…."

Cynder's delicate laugh chimed through the hallways at her foster father's grumbling. Turning her head towards the food, she stared curiously at the tarts. She sniffed her pastry rolls, the wonderful smelling steam breaking through her clogged nose like oil through rust.

"Meaty manju! **(1)** My favorite!" With a lunge, Cynder began to scarf down as many of the pastries as she could, slobbering happily at the taste of seasoned red meat.

With a heavy sigh at the doughy demise of his favorite apron, Fabius sat down at the opposite end of the table. After taking a quick bite of his fruit, he grunted, "Malefor's newest mission is, as you know, to the Tall Plains. From what Faust told me, Cyril's draining sphere has finally absorbed most of his powers' essence, which means he wants to send you out to retrieve it."

Cynder quietly shuddered, a little bit of meat falling from her lips. She had been to the Tall Plains before, and she knew that its superficial beauty was only an illusion. Deep in the vast plains of grass and sky were all kinds of traps just waiting for an unfortunate dragon to fall victim to. "But isn't the Atlawa tribe still free?"

"I think that the troop you sent up there has taken care of most of them."

Nodding, Cynder picked up a napkin and wiped her lips free of slobbery proteins. "Then it's best I head off." With an unhappy clank from her breakfast tray, Cynder's tail slammed against the table as she burst out the back door and into the sky.

--

Light-headed and dizzy, Cynder scoured the endless sea of clouds for the first patches of the Tall Plains. Not used to flying at such high altitudes, the black dragon's head and heart were pounding in protest. The air was thin and poor up there — even worse in quality than what was in the small bubble that surrounded Malefor's prison.

Despite that, Cynder's eyes jolted alertly and her wings beat as hard and fast as they could. It was terribly clear that her black and magenta scales would make her easy to spot against the blue and white that expanded around her. Even so, Cynder would not let that quiet, tingling doubt make her turn around for home. She had a mission to complete.

After a long while of aching wings and a throbbing heart, the dragoness spotted an island of green suspended in the clouds. As elegant as a befuddled bat, she crashed into the floating prairie, leaving a rough, side-winding trail behind her. "Bluurgh…" she mumbled. "How am I going to help Uncle rule the Dragon Realms when I can't even _land_ properly?"

Pride hauled the dragoness up again, standing tall and proud before the maze of grasslands. _Let's see… where did I hide Cyril again?_

Cynder grimaced and groaned grudgingly when she saw where she was. Though Cyril was not on the other side of the Tall Plains, it was still some distance before she would get there. _Why didn't I order a camp built over here?_ she cursed mentally._ Toadweed! I should have thought of that sooner._

Plodding through the grass, Cynder began to make her way towards the nearest settlement. It was days like this she was very glad to be tall; even though the brittle grass scratched painfully beneath her pads, it didn't even reach her underbelly. Cynder's legs were long enough so that she could climb when she needed to and step over gaps between the islands rather than using her worn-out wings.

She passed by a tremendous stone monolith, so old and mysterious that moss had grown in the cracks where runes used to be. The sky was now blotted out by a towering roof made of carved rock and laden with vines. If Cynder were not at the Tall Plains on business, she might've taken her time to admire the structure, carved by magnificent master masons of old.

Ducking her head beneath a rotting log, Cynder stalked through the brush. Serpentine tongue flicking with displeasure, the dragon halted suddenly at the feeling of wood beneath her feet.

One second. Two.

_Something doesn't feel right._

Delicately—cautiously—Cynder took one step forward…

_FWUUUMP!!_ She jumped high in the air as a sharpened spear was hurled right by her chest, nearly grazing her soft underbelly. Roaring like a maddened beast, Cynder slammed a heavy paw into the two rows of totems on either side of her. The idols continued to spit stakes and stones as they toppled over like dominos, sending up a cloud of dust from the filthy floor.

"ALL RIGHT!" Cynder snarled, "Come out and fight, you cowardly LLAMAS!"

"…Cynder?"

"Shooting spears at _me,_ my bum! You guys must be the most MISERABLE EXCUSES for warriors on the PLANET!"

"Cynder?"

"YOUR MOTHER WAS AN ALPACA!"

"_CYNDER!"_

The black dragoness turned her head swiftly, readying a poisonous wad of saliva for the offender. To her astonishment, she found a tall ape and several young simians come out from behind a canon, their heads bowed shamefully. "I am sorry for the traps, Oh Great Queen of the Conquerors. The remaining refugees of the Atlawa tribe have been most elusive."

Cynder almost choked on her spit. "Oh… hey there, commander…." Acutely embarrassed, the dragon gulped heavily and chuckled, "I thought you and your trainees were Atlawa."

The commander nodded in understanding. "Indeed. Even our own troops have been mistaking each other for those savages. In the last week, we've had twenty casualties over such accidents."

"Yikes," Cynder hissed. Although dragons have excellent night-vision, the light in the temple was so dim that she could barely see the apes' figures. "I don't believe you can forgive me for taking down your traps?"

"But of course we can forgive you!" one of the soldiers laughed. "You are a higher-leader, after all. We live here only to serve the Dark Master and his family."

Cynder stopped. _Family._ In spite of the fact that she always called Malefor her 'uncle' in informal conversation, she had never considered him to be kin.

She was tempted to tell the young soldier that Fabius was the only family she knew, but she emptied her head of such thoughts. _Malefor is my master. _she thought. _He will rule over everyone and everything someday. He_ is_ family._

_Isn't he?_

--

_**(1)**__ Manju is a baked Japanese pastry filled with bean paste and sometimes meat (as in this story). You can blame over-exposure to Zelda manga for this one!_

**(bangs head into brick wall) STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! I got it in late AGAIN! I'm a stinky writer. ;~;**


	7. A Major Eye Opener

**I promised myself no matter what I'd finish the Legend of Cynder stories—and I am holding myself to that promise. It's been eons, I know, but I blame life. She's a cruel mistress indeed, perhaps even crueler than Mistress herself. But that's aside the point.**

**While I wait for the results on "Fan Fatales," I will focus on continuing LoC. This chapter is a bit of a continuation off of the previous one, so it's still a tad short, but not nearly as short as last time. I removed the filler for now and will repost it as an extra once the story is done. Thank you all so much for your patience!**

**

* * *

**

A Major Eye-Opener

_SMACK!_ A vine whipped into Cynder's nose, making the dragon falter in annoyance. Even though her head was lowered so she wouldn't hit the top of the stone structure, it didn't prevent the creepers from lashing out at her face. "How much farther?" she moaned, eyes stinging from sudden light.

The ape commander leading the group chuckled, "We're already here." Cynder raised her head and walked onto a tall platform covered with grass and stones. The soldiers that helped escort the dragon to the settlement scampered to the camp, where small huts made from grasses and animal hides housed several dozen apes of every size and military rank.

"Excellent! Now, commander I must ask—." The dragoness stopped and blinked in surprise at the ape. She had met him in a fairly dark tunnel, so she hadn't had a chance yet to see what outfit he had on. "…What the hell are you wearing?"

"Oh, this?" he beamed, "This is a traditional Atlawa outfit for the warriors and braves to wear when they go out for battle. What do you think?" The ape turned around, showing off his yellow-and-blue feathered hat and bright red pants.

"Erm… it looks… _good…_" Cynder breathed, trying hard to smile. She sincerely hoped that the ape would not see how much she disliked the bright primary colors. _Blue shoulder blades against RED and YELLOW? Are they colorblind?_

Fortunately for her, the chief was too busy smiling proudly at his village to notice Cynder's impolite grimace. "Madam Cynder, is this place not beautiful? Since our immigration to this realm, we have built a spiritual culture to honor the three gods: The Dark Master, Gaul, and you."

"Me?" Cynder gasped, staring at the many teepees and huts. Several female apes were lingering about outside, gossiping to each other. The soldiers on lookout duty were posted everywhere on this part of the large floating island. The idea of this entire village worshipping at her feet made her a little uneasy. "I'm one of your gods?"

The chief nodded. "Well, technically you're a goddess, but no matter. It is a great honor to be visited by someone of your noble stature."

Somewhat baffled by the continuous streams of flattering comments, Cynder could only stare wide-eyed at the scene. The simplicity of the camp almost brought a new feeling of peace to her mind. It almost felt as if she has been here for a long time.

"Commander," Cynder coughed, clearing her mind of idle thoughts, "Can you please direct me to the Atlawa shrine? I'm ready to take the Crystal of Ice to the Dark Master."

The commander laughed then, but it was different than what Cynder expected it to be. It was… drained? Dry? Something about it was off. "There is no need to be quite so formal," the commander mumbled. "You can call me Major. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that I cannot escort you there." With a weary sigh, Major sat down on a log. All of a sudden, the proud ape Cynder saw earlier looked tired and sad. "We have too few able-bodied soldiers at camp right now; they're all out protecting the plains and searching for the remaining Atlawa people."

Pity welled up in the dragon's throat. Quietly washing her claws, she mused, "Then can you at least point me in the right direction? I don't come here that often."

Major looked up at the dragoness and smiled emptily. Her scales prickled a little. Yes, he definitely seemed worn-out… but why did that bother her? "Just head northeast and follow the wind. Go over the wheat fields and turn left at the pyramids, and you'll be there in no time. Take note that if you hit the flatlands, you've gone too far."

Information swimming in Cynder's head like soup, the dragon only nodded quietly, and glanced vaguely towards the village, trying to avert her attention from his shaken eyes. All of a sudden, her mind seemed to drop out of the real world and into her own thoughts, sending her into a wild sea of emotions. Visions of home and hearth with Fabius clashed brutally with frightful imaginings of confronting her uncle face-to-face. In the back of her mind she could hear Major's voice proclaiming her a goddess—only to be washed away by the watery sound of her own guilt wearing at her thoughts.

"Cynder?"

She snapped back to reality, abruptly turning and staring in shock at Major. A serious look plastered on his face, the commander asked, "What's wrong?"

Cynder snorted, trying to shrug it off. Unconvincingly, she muttered, "Nothing is wrong, Major. I was just somewhat… distracted."

The commander sat up and placed a hairy hand on Cynder's shoulder. It felt sickly warm, running shivers up her body. "Follow me." He grunted, flashing Cynder a meaningful look. "I must show you something."

Pacing slowly through the camp, Cynder padded forward slowly, ducking her head low under a ridge that led away from the huts. The grass began to die away the farther she walked, only to be replaced by hard clumps of dirt and rock and a few sparse weeds scattered on the floating path. The farther she went along, she noticed, the fewer apes were running about.

Uncomfortable by the awkward silence, the dragon whispered to Major, "Sir, where are you—?"

"Look down there, Cynder. Take in what you see."

Craning her neck, the black dragon's jaw slowly dropped open at the sight. Two official-looking apes, obviously higher-ranked commanders of Gaul, were swirling whips over their heads in a remote training outpost. Three dozen or so little apes in tattered tribal uniform were forcibly training on the harsh terrain, doing everything from crawling through mud, to running through tires, to doing push-ups. Many of them were chained and shackled together, with some even burdening weights on their arms and legs.

The conditions were harsh—almost comparable to the swamp settlement—but something about this place filled Cynder with even more dread. Narrowing her eyes, she honed her vision in on the soldiers and gasped.

They were children.

Gasping, the dragon only watched in horror as the officials whipped one of the smaller apes for crying after forty push-ups. The sound struck her ears like lightning and throbbed in her head as if she had just gotten a massive concussion. With a quiet breath, Cynder murmured, "Major… why are these children training under such conditions?"

"I am a commander," the ape replied, "which means I am an adult. Leaders are adolescents with minor weapons-training, and soldiers… children. Every soldier under Malefor's rule, Gaul's instruction, and ultimately your guidance, is a child too young to be away from their mother.

"Now, I am but an ape—slave to Gaul, to the Dark Master, and also to you. But when I looked into your eyes I saw something different, something special that no superior of mine has ever possessed before. Your concern for these children is only solidifying my theory that you, Cynder, are not completely evil."

_Evil._ The word struck Cynder's heart like an iron stake being driven through it. She knew of the two opposite alignments—of good, and of evil—but she never imagined herself truly on either side. She could remember Malefor saying that he and all his minions were forces of good, and that if he was freed he would serve his 'true purpose' as a purple dragon, although he never explained his intentions further. Surely he didn't know about this, did he? About these apes suffering since a young age, destined to patrol their whole lives only to die young at the hands of the rebels? _No, he couldn't know of this. I must tell him as soon as possible._

Noticing her silence, Major continued, "Cynder, our culture is shifting. The Dark Master declared himself god, along with you and Gaul. We are not worshipping by choice, but by force. Malefor is trying to root out our faith in our own gods by replacing them with himself as omnipotent ruler."

Cynder stared at him.

"Now," Major sighed, "What you do with this information is up to you. But I will tell you this: our people feel that you are our only hope—our only way of communicating our needs to the Dark Master. Gaul will no longer listen, so please, Cynder… please do something."

There was a long silence. Cynder looked at Major in the eyes. For the first time, she noticed how pale and weak he was, and how old he was growing. She turned her head to the ground and felt with her paws its rough surface, not suitable for training. And finally, she turned her head to the young children, forced into training at a ridiculous age only so they can be sent as death-fodder against the rebels.

She took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh.

Major looked at her expectantly.

"I… will see what I can do."

Without another word, Cynder flapped her giant wings and took off in a northeasterly direction, the words of Major echoing down every fathom of her being. Would she have looked back, Cynder would have seen Major's frown evolve into a weak smile of hope—the first breath of hope in a long time.

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**How long has it been? SIX MONTHS? Even worse—that last update was **_**filler.**_** God, I don't know why somebody hasn't shot me yet for being so untimely.**


	8. A Little Treat Before Signing Off

**Hello, FanFiction.**

**You've probably been waiting eons to update — believe me, I've waited eons, too — but if I were to be honest with myself and the rest of you, I'd have to say that this story no longer interests me. I have fallen out of the Spyro fandom a bit thanks to my lack of time or ability to play most of them, and I have lost my drive along with it.**

**It is with some sorrow that I announce this series has been DISCONTINUED.**

**But before I go, here's a bit of a treat. DeviantMIND1 volunteered to revamp the first chapter for me. The results are posted below. Some of the changes are more subtle; others are more blatant; overall, I think it has added to the piece and the (very bizarre, when I look at it in hindsight) tone my thirteen-year-old mind once found fantastic. **_**Please give DeviantMIND1's pieces a look, as well **_**— there are three M-rated fanfictions on her profile, all part of the Humor/Adventure genre, all of which have garnered laughs from me.**

**So, without further ado…**

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The Birth of Darkness

_In the Year of the Dragon, in a world beyond the realms, I, like all the others, awaited the birth of the dragon of whom the prophecies foretold._

_But the Dark Master heard the prophecies as well. I should have hidden the eggs long before._

_But I... I thought we were ready. I thought they were safe._

_Oh, how I was wrong…_

Walls cracked and eggs tumbled in the tremors from the temple roof. Ignitus, who was completely engrossed in guarding the clutch, was taken by surprise and nearly lost his footing. Rocks crumbled to the floor as he wobblingly stared at the collapsing stone ceiling.

"Save them!" came a shout. Ignitus quickly turned to see Volteer run through the door that led from the room with the Pool of Visions The electric dragon was out of breath, but his eyes were ruthlessly determined. "The dark armies have come!"

As falling rubble hurtled to the cobblestone floor, Ignitus panicked, knowing all too well that he wouldn't be able to save every young life that was awaiting birth in this nursery. The Fire Guardian quickly snatched the purple dragon egg and ran out through the back door and out into the starless night.

Volteer didn't have long to catch his breath. The moment Ignitus fled from the hatchery, half a dozen muscular ape warriors, weiring their typical but sterdy leather armour with iron plating and studs, broke in through the temple doors and began grabbing eggs, smashing them against the ground. In a burst of energy, the ever-dutiful Volteer stood up tall and managed to incinerate one of the smaller beasts. He cried in sheer agony as he became paralyzed, his vital organs literally cooked.

But without the breath for him to use his magic, Volteer felt virtually powerless. The largest ape, taking advantage of the Thunder Guardian's weakened state, leaped into the air with his club held high. "This one's for you, mother!" he cried as he slammed it hard against Volteer's neck.

The Thunder Guardian was knocked out, but still alive. The massive primate knew how important his life would be in the plan to release the Dark Master from his prison. Knowing that time was quickly fleeing, the ape boomed, "Will one of you numbskulls grab the black egg already and go?! Our master's waiting!" he ordered his troops aloud.

"I got the egg!" At that, a medium-sized ape picked up a black egg which had rolled to the floor in the trembling quakes that were shaking the whole temple to its very foundations.

When the smaller cohorts knew that their task was complete, and that they had destroyed every egg they could find, they figured that it wouldn't be wise to stay much longer.

Ignitus came back just in time to see the last ape trip over a lamp and set some of the moss on fire. The Fire Guardian was speechless. All around him, he could see eggs that were either smashed by the infernal apes or crushed in the falling debris from the roof. As he blew away the fire in one mighty beat of his wings, he saw the battered body of Volteer lying motionless on the temple floor.

"Great," Ignitus muttered. "Now I need to shingle the darn roof all over again! Where's my insurance policy?" He then yowled towards the threshold, of which the earlier raiders just escaped, "You dirty apes!" his voice echoing throughout nearly the whole temple.

But he had much more to worry about than temple maintenance. In his mourning over the roof, he hadn't noticed that the black egg was not there, crushed or not. This was going to be one fatal oversight that would haunt him until the end of his days.

A night of no stars and a new moon is black, but not the same shade of darkness of the egg the ape leader held. He stared into it, marveling at its mystery. He could almost feel his soul spiraling into its ebony depths as if it were a dark crystal draining his life energy away. Placing a hand on the side of it, he felt the creature inside, as if it were clawing at the piece of shell he laid his hand on.

"Careful with that egg, Fabius (Fay-bee-us)," growled the commander. On his dreadwing, Fabius's leader looked strong and menacing. He wore pitch-black leather armour with clean, sharp steel studs an shoulder plates and steel plates on his wrist braces. He had fire in his eyes for the smallest possible reason. "If _that_ one gets smashed, we'll be Malefor's next meal."

"Gee, Faust (Fowst)," Fabius smiled, looking at the egg. "Do you think it will be a baby boy or girl?"

"What difference does it make?" Faust spat. "The creature inside will be nothing but a pawn on the chessboard of this budding war. Boy or girl alike, this dragon will free our master and give us a crucial advantage in our conquest for world domination."

Fabius drooped his ears and pouted. "I was just wondering what we would name it…"

"_Name?_" snarled Faust. "You idiot! It doesn't NEED a name. It's a lizard."

_Don't call the egg an 'it', _Fabius argued to a tiny imaginary Faust. _'It' will be a he or a she._

Behind the ape leader's back, several of the soldiers snickered. The dreadwings continued to ride farther into the skies, but Fabius hardly noticed the time pass. All the while he was staring at the egg, thinking of names for the dragon-to-be. He looked around, whilst keeping a hand on the reins and an arm around the egg. He was one of seven apes riding their beasts in an arrow formation, with Faust as the black-hearted leader.

Fabius was one of the few kind-hearted apes left in his entire race

After a long, silent flight, the small escort of apes arrived at the floating island in Convexity. Since the apes were of evil alignment, they could go in and out of the portal as they pleased. The four soldiers lined up in double file, standing tall as Commander Faust got off his mount and marched to the front of the lines. "Come, Fabius."

The ape looked to the ground. Even though his dreadwing was no longer airborne, it was still awfully high off the ground at about the height of an adolescent dragon. Fabius looked down dizzily and stumbled over the wing membrane, making his mount shriek indignantly.

His head foggy, the ape could hear amused chortles from his comrades as Fabius tripped over a knobby bone…

And sent the egg flying in the air.

"GET IT! GET THE EGG!" Faust shouted the moment it was airborne. Fabius, suddenly noticing that the unborn chick was in danger, leapt into the air and grabbed the egg just before it hit the ground.

Faust walked towards him, seething with hatred. "Give me that!" he growled as he yanked the egg from Fabius's hands. "Your clumsy fingers will destroy this creature _long_ before we present it to our master at this rate!"

Sheepishly, Fabius stuttered, "Well, you see, I have this awful fear of heights, and—."

"Shut up!" roared Faust as he put the egg in his pouch. "I have no desire to hear about your completely ridiculous acrophobic condition. All I want is to give the egg to the Dark Master before it hatches on its own."

When one of the soldiers burst out in a fit of laughter, Faust gave him a furious slap in the face. "Back in line, all of you!"

Each of the apes got back in line, a taken aback by Faust's physical outburst. Fabius cowered next to his superior as Faust led the group into the portal of Convexity.

The Convexity portal led to different places depending on your alignment. To the good, it led to a dark, sickening realm which contained a fog that weakens you until you lose consciousness and die; a terrible fate, which many unfortunate heroes have suffered. To the neutral it was a transporter: a way into any place in the world they desired.

But to villains, it led directly to the Dark Master's prison.

Fabius's feet tingled as he stepped through the portal alongside Faust. He stepped in on the other side, met by a blast of warm air. The room he stood in was an enclosed chamber floating in the void of space. The windows were closed, and the place felt warmed by an unseen source. Fabius felt the portal behind him sending fiery lights into the large area.

Then, slinking towards him ominously, was a massive dragon with violet scales. His head had enormous, spiky horns sticking out like thorns. His claws were stained an unclean yellow, much like his eyes, but his teeth were whiter than a frosty blizzard. At the end of his tail was a perfectly curved spade.

"Malefor," breathed Faust. The whole patrol bowed before the massive figure.

"So… you have the egg?" Malefor's voice boomed from his mouth like tumbling rocks.

Faust took the ebony elliptical egg from his pouch and kneeled, holding it out in front of him. Fabius only watched as the Dark Master carefully picked it up and placed it on a small bedding of weeds.

Malefor waved his hands over the egg and chanted, almost rhythmically:

"_Ancient creature of the night,_

"_Born from darkness, afraid of light,_

"_Free this egg from tying girth,_

"_And __give this shadow creature birth!"_

Upon that, the egg was showered with purple sparks which glowed magically over the egg. Immediately, the egg began to quiver and shake violently, illuminating with a crackling lavender light. With a momentous crunch, the egg burst into several shards which rained on the soldiers and spread across the room.

Fabius covered his eyes, hoping that the shards would hit Faust instead of him. The sounds of magic died down around him, and a gentle giggle sounded not too far in front of him. The ape opened one of his eyes and gasped.

There, sitting on small remains of shell, was a little black dragon with silver markings. Its underbelly was a dark shade of magenta, and it had small, bumpy horns on its head. The tip of its tail looked like a slice of cold steel, gleaming in the unnatural light from the portal.

A wicked grin spread on Malefor's face. "A new era has been born to us this very day."

Faust gasped, "A new reign of darkness will fall across the land!"

Fabius smiled and babbled, "Why, it's a girl!"

Everyone turned to give Fabius a good old-fashioned 'what the—?' expression. Fabius ignored them and walked over to where the little dragoness now lay, rolling in childlike glee in her former constraints. "Hi, there," Fabius breathed as he looked at the newborn.

The dragoness blinked her forest green eyes at him. With a big, toothless smile, she burbled, "Dada!"

Fabius smiled sweetly at her. "Aw, lookit her! Isn't she _adorable!_"

Malefor rolled his eyes. "Fabius!" he roared, "The newest member of team evil will not now nor never be referred to as 'adorable'. I will raise her to be a killer and a weapon."

Fabius nodded eagerly, "Yes, master! But may I make a suggestion?"

Everyone groaned. Faust looked as if he were just about ready to strangle Fabius. "_YES… Fabius?_" the Dark Master snarled.

"Uhm… I was thinking, well, maybe, we can name the dragon Cinders of Fallen Heroes. Huh? How does that sound?"

Malefor sighed with annoyance. "Very well. Cinder, for short."

"No, no!" Fabius argued, "How about we spell 'Cinder' with a 'y' instead?"

"Now why would he do that?" Faust raged.

"It... sounds... better," Fabius hesitated, fearful of his commander, who maliciously eyed him.

All of the soldiers looked ready to throw a fit of laughter. Faust put his hand to his face, feeling acutely embarrassed by how the situation was working out so far. Malefor glanced ponderously out his window and murmured, "Cynder… I like that."

The Dark Master wheeled around and turned to stare right into young Cynder's face. Her big green eyes widened with fear when she first looked at him. "Hello, young Cynder. Are you going to help me escape from the confines of this blasted prison so I can dominate the Dragon Realms?"

"Dada?" Cynder babbled. She put both her little paw on his snout, receiving a disturbed grunt from Malefor, and began to joyfully sway her tail and sniff him, taking in his unique scent like any newborn hatchling would do with its parents.

All in the room gasped aloud and went completely wide-eyed with their mouths hanging open. All, save for the black-hearted Faust, covered their eyes and looked away, knowing their master would destroy the innocent hatchling for the sudden and unwanted physical contact. But to the surprise of all in the room, as well as great relief to Fabius, he instead tolerated it. All became astonished as he gave the hatchling a weak smile.

"Please call me Uncle," Malefor boomed, a smile on his coarse, purple face.

Cynder tumbled to her front and spread her tiny wings. "Uncoo…" she cooed, rolling the new word on her tongue and smiling playfully.

Malefor grinned nefariously. "Faust! Fabius! Feed the girl while I make preparations for her training."

"Training?" Fabius panicked. "But...she's a baby, master?"

"You have nothing to fear, Fabius," Malefor growled. "She will grow up _much_ faster than you think."

Malefor nudged the infant towards Faust. "Go, young one. Training awaits you, Cynder." and then stalked to the other side of the cavern. Faust, looking a little uncomfortable with carrying the baby, who was playfully clawing at his face, quickly shoved Cynder into Fabius's hands. "Give the thing some food, you lackey!" At that command, Faust strutted away angrily.

Fabius shot Faust a nasty look, but all his negative feelings washed away when he felt a small, stubby dragon nose poking into his chest. He turned down to see Cynder close her eyes and snuggle up to him with a contented sigh.

"Aw…" Fabius chuckled. "You _are _cute, no matter what they say. Come, now, my little Cynder; I'll get you some breakfast."

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**It was a bit of a trip, looking back at this. I'd completely forgotten that I had little pronunciation keys after Faust's and Fabius's introductions… pffft. It's a pity I've lost the drive to write this — I had outlined all three **_**Legend of Spyro**_** games from Cynder's perspective. I was prepared to make it epic.**

**Oh, well…**

**This is Dreamnorn, signing out.**


End file.
